


Don’t You Cry For Me

by Jesssbaby



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Characters are slightly aged up, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Past Violence, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 09:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14766575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jesssbaby/pseuds/Jesssbaby
Summary: Clementine comes from a dark and mysterious childhood, while Gabe comes from a family that’s barely holding itself together. They find brief comfort in each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My second Gabentine fanfic! I hope you all like it!!

“Drew, I swear to god if you say one more thing about fortnite, I will actually push you into the road.” Gabe glares at his long time friend as they walk to school.

Not taking the threat to heart, Drew shoves his phone into Gabe’s line of sight, “Dude, c’mon! I’m about to brag. I finally fucking won a game all on my own.” He points to the victory screen on his phone.

Gabe pushes the phone away with an eyeroll, “And you’ve been playing the game for how many months now? If anything, I’m more disappointed in you.” Gabe shakes his head, before turning to look back towards the parking lot as the telltale sound of a motorcycle reaches his ears.

Both boys paused as the motorcycle pulls into the spot right next to them. The rider in question parks and checks their phone for a split second before getting up, sliding the helmet off their head and the backpack off their shoulders.

As they shove the helmet in their bag, they look towards the two boys, as if they knew they were being watched.

Gabe feels himself tense up as he meets eyes with Clementine. The girl looks him over before meeting his eyes as she swings her backpack back over her shoulders. Gabe is surprised when Clementine gives him a quick, slightly confused, smile--- a stark contrast to the dark look she always seemed to have.

Gabe smiles back at her, though he’s a little more cautious. Clementine’s gaze shifts to Drew, who is seemingly just frozen in place, and her features turn back to a frown before she turns and walks into the school.

Once she’s out of earshot, Drew seems to unfreeze all at once. “God, I can’t believe she’s still here.” he shakes his head, tucking his phone away as they start walking again.

Glancing towards his best friend, Gabe frowns again. “What do you mean?” He asks, gripping both straps to his backpack. 

“I mean, I can’t believe she hasn’t been expelled. She’s beating someone up like every other week.” Drew shrugs.

At that, Gabe just rolls his eyes. “It’s not like she’s actively looking for a fight. Clementine is... well, she’s more often stopping a fight than starting one.” he explains, ignoring the confused look he gets from his friend. “Like, remember the first day of school? When she helped Sarah?” Gabe offers.

The memory was still fresh in both boys heads, even though it was over nine months ago. Seeing as it was the first time anyone had really ever seen Clementine, it was a pretty unforgettable memory for everyone.

It was the first day of senior year. Up until this year, Clementine had been homeschooled by her father who use to be a history professor. Around town, people had been spreading rumors about her for years. Talking about how her father was an ex convict and her uncle had lost both his wife and child a few years back and had basically gone insane, so she was bound to be crazy as well. She took boxing lessons on Wednesday’s, so that didn’t help the fear of the crowd either. But back to the first day.

The morning went by pretty smoothly, she was in Gabe’s PE hour, but not with the same teacher. Things didn’t really start getting heated until lunch. Most of the kids who can drive go off campus for lunch at a square of fast food places not too far from the school, that’s where Gabe and a pretty decently sized crowd decided to go the first day back.

One of the more aggressive girls, Becca, had started picking on Sarah as usual. Making fun of her hair, her glasses, just being a general nuisance. It wasn’t anything new, so no one really paid much attention to it, but Clementine on the other hand didn’t seem to happy about it.

Apparently Sarah and Clem knew each other, so Clementine had been sitting with her. She had been silent the whole time, but with that bone chilling glare leveled on Becca, as if daring her to do something. And that’s what Becca did.

All it took was one finger on Sarah’s glasses before Clementines first was connecting with Becca’s cheek. As Becca fell to the floor, Clementine stood up, grabbing her and Sarah’s bag as she looked down at the other girl with clear distaste.

“Stop being such a bitch.” was all Clementine said before she and Sarah walked away. It was probably the most amazing thing Gabe had ever witnessed. 

Over the course of the year, Clementine continued getting into a multitude of fights and disagreements. Most of the time she could be seen fighting with the Russian exchange student, Arvo. They despised each other since apparently they had some history. According to rumors, back in the day, Clementine’s uncle beat Arvo within an inch of his life. The circumstances were still unknown, but Arvo does have the scars to prove it.

It’s not like Gabe feels bad for Arvo--- not at all. That kid was an asshole to everyone. If anything, Gabe felt bad for Clementine, she was the one who had to deal with Arvo, and the only one who had enough nerve to put him in his place.

Back to the present, and speaking of the devil, Clementine wasn’t the only person that was in Gabe’s PE hour. Arvo was in that class, and even though they’d never really talked, Gabe had always felt the judging gaze of the other boy when he couldn’t do the activities as well as others, as if Arvo could do any better.

Thankfully, this class was the last of the day. Once time was up, they were changing back into non sweaty clothes and waiting for the bell to ring. Gabe doesn’t like dealing with the crowd of kids swarming the exit, so he typically waits until the bell has rung and the hallway has cleared before leaving the building. 

At the sound of the bell, Gabe stands from his seat on the bench. Taking a minute to send a quick text to Drew, he moves to open the double doors leading to the empty hallway. But before he could push them open, someone pulls him back by the collar of his shirt. 

Gabe stumbles backward, choking a bit before whipping around to face the person. Unsurprisingly, It’s Arvo, and two of his cronies. Arvo glared at Gabe while the other two grinned maliciously. 

Rubbing his neck where his shirt had assaulted him, Gabe frowns. “The fuck do you want, Arvo?” He asks, dropping his hand back to his side. 

“I saw you were chatting with Clementine.” Arvo accused.

Gabe rolls his eyes at Arvo’s dramatics and shakes his head. “I literally just smiled at her? Sorry, is that a hate crime now?” 

Arvo squints at him, “No--- last week. You gave her a uh- сода, a soda!” Arvo struggles with the English word for a moment. 

Again, Gabe rolls his eyes and then laughs, “Oh my fucking god, are you serious? I was putting my soda back because I didn’t want it and she was going getting one, so I just handed it to her. Get off your high horse.” Deciding he’s done with this conversation, Gabe turns to leave. 

Again, he’s tugged back by the collar of his shirt, but this time with more force. Gabe falls back, just barley catching himself with his hands as Arvo steps back into his vision. 

“You are pathetic, Gabriel.” Arvo laughs as Gabe rubs his wrist. He must have put too much pressure on it when he fell, because it hurt like hell. And it seemed like that wasn’ t going to be the only thing that’s going to be hurting like hell tonight, as he watched Arvo pull his arm back, getting ready to punch Gabe in the face. 

On instinct, Gabe brought his arms up and squeezed her eyes shut as he braces for the impact. 

The sound of skin on skin is made, but Gabe doesn’t feel any pain. A snap is heard and then Gabe finally opens his eyes, slowly lowering his arms to see what was happening. 

First thing Gabe sees is Arvo on the floor next to him. His glasses snapped and a few feet away from them with the right frame shattered. Glass is scattered around the linoleum, and Gabe follows the trail of blood to the owner. 

“He’s pathetic? At least he didn’t get beat up by a girl.” Clementine scoffs at Arvo, who’s grabbing at his shattered glasses. “Now can you just fuck off for once in your miserable life?” 

Not wanting to be around the girl anymore, Arvo and his friends scramble away with their tails tucked between their legs. Once the trio is out of view, Clementine turns her attention to Gabe, holding out a non bloodied hand. 

“Hey, uh… are you okay?” She asks softly as Gabe takes her hand and stands. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Might have a sprained wrist, but other than that I’m fine.” Gabe tells her before looking down to the still bleeding hand. “That doesn’t look too good, do you want some help?”

As if she just noticed there’s blood dripping from her knuckles, Clementine looks down at her hand. “Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks.” Clementine nods, glancing back at Gabe before he’s leading her to where his car is parked. He misses the grateful smile she gives him from behind.


	2. Chapter 2

“A couple weeks ago my friend Drew--- you’ve probably seen him around--- anyways, he totally wiped out while trying to learn how to skateboard, so, uh, I have some gauze and peroxide in my car already.” Gabe hastily explains as he unlocks his car and grabs the stuff. 

Still cradling her bleeding hand to her stomach, Clementine nods. “Are you sure you don’t need to get your wrist checked out?” She asks, glancing at his wrist. 

Gabe pauses and twists his hand around for a second, briefly wincing before shaking his head. “No, it doesn’t hurt so bad anymore. If it doesn’t get better, I’ll get it check out.” he explains while pulling out the gauze and peroxide. 

“Okay… cool.” Clementine frowns at the bottle of peroxide, but nonetheless follows Gabe to a nearby bench. 

Gabe wets some of the paper towels they had grabbed with the peroxide before holding his hand out to take hers. As he gently cleans away the blood, he glances at her before talking. 

“So...what’s the deal with you and Arvo anyways? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Clementines hand turns to a fist in his hold. 

“God, he’s been on my family’s ass for years now. I use to live in like North Carolina, and he went to my middle school there, right?” he nods to let her know that he’s listening, “and he was just always a little pick. I was in sixth grade, and this eighth grade girl that I befriended, Jane, stole something of his once, and he was pissed. ” Gabe finished cleaning the blood and began to wrap her hand with the gauze. 

“So like a day or two later, he gets his friends to beat us up, but Jane ran off and left me there to fend for myself. At eleven years old.” Clementine says bitterly. 

Gabe frowns as he lets go of her hand. “At eleven?” He asks, incredulously. 

Glad he is just as upset about that as she was, Clem nods throwing her hands up. “Yeah! Just abandoned me. They got like one or two punches in before my uncle Kenny stepped in. He beat Arvo until he could barely walk, and then we moved again,” Clementine explained, dropping her hands down to her lap. 

Gabe looks at her in shock, “God, and now he’s here? That must suck.” he frowns. 

“Trust me, it does. So, uh, sorry for dragging you down with me?” She frowns. Clem felt bad that briefly associating with her put Gabe on Arvo’s shit list. But on the other hand, she was pleasantly surprised that Gabe had yet to turn his back on her, like everyone else she had ever known. 

“No, seriously don’t worry about it, you’re not the one who tried to beat me up.” Gabe laughs, trying to keep the mood light. 

Laughing softly, Clementine nods, “Yeah, I guess so.” 

They share a smile before she stands, looking down at her newly bandaged hand that she knows Lee will flip out about later. “Thanks for helping me, that was… that was really cool of you.” She looks back at Gabe as he stands. 

Brushing it off, Gabe shakes his head again, “Thank you for not letting me get my nose broken today.” Again, they both laugh as Clementine takes a step back. 

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asks, raising a brow at him. 

Pausing for a second, Gabe nods. “Uh yeah--- see you tomorrow Clementine.”

She gives him a small wave before turning to head to where she parked her bike. She pauses for a second to put on her helmet, Kenny would kill her if she didn’t, before she starts it up and is speeding to the gym. 

Ever since Lee stopped teaching as a college professor and then also stopped homeschooling her, he had been spending a lot more time at the gym. “Just in case,” he always told her, to which she just rolled her eyes. Though she will admit, it was fun to spar with him sometimes. 

She parks her motorcycle next to Lee’s car. Swinging her bag off her shoulders to tuck away her helmet as she heads inside. 

The gym was owned by a friend of Lee’s, so even when it was closed, it was always open to their family. 

“Hey Lee!” Clem calls out to the only man in the room. 

At her presence, Lee pauses from his session with a punching bag. The angry, focused face melts into a happy one as he looks towards the girl, walking over to meet her half way. “Hey sweet pea,” he placed a hand on the back of her head to pull her closer so he can kiss her forehead. 

“How was school?” Lee asks as he wipes some sweat from his brow. 

Clementine shrugs, dropping her bag onto the empty counter on her way to the gym lockers. “It was fine, I guess. Arvo was giving this one kid, Gabriel, shit before I stepped in,” she explains, reaching up to put in her locker combination. 

Clem can almost feel Lee’s disapproving look as her bandaged hand comes into view. 

“Clementine...” Lee uses her full name, which makes Clem drop her hands and groan as she turns to face the man. 

“Lee, I couldn’t just let Arvo beat him up! And it wasn’t like a ‘Hey! Stop that!’ was going to do anything.” Clementine frowns, crossing her arms defensively. 

“You could have gotten in trouble, Clementine, or seriously injured yourself. You know how I feel about you fighting people.” Lee’s disappointed tone made Clem feel horrible. 

Groaning again, Clem turns back to get her gym clothes out of her locker, “Yeah yeah...only fight when I really need to. Whatever.” she grumbles finally swinging her locker open and grabbing her clothes. “Now get ready old man, just ‘cause I’m hurt doesn’t mean we’re not sparring today.” she grins at her father figure before disappearing into the locker room to change. 

————-

The next day at school went by as expected. Seeing as Arvo was a tattletale, he immediately went to the grade principal to complain about what Clementine had done. 

During their final hour, Arvo, Clem, and Gabe were all called to the principal’s office. When Clem noticed Arvo was wearing the same pair of glasses he had two years ago, she couldn’t help but smirk a little. And then, when Gabe walked into the room, she couldn’t help but let that smirk change into a genuine smile. 

“I hope you all know why you’ve been called here today?” The principal asks, frowning at the teenagers. When they all nodded, he continued, “Arvo has given me some upsetting news about events that happened on school grounds yesterday.” Arvo shoots a glare at the two teens next to him. 

“Did he happen to mention that he basically choked Gabe and tried to punch him in the face before I stepped in?” Clementine interrupted. She held her chin high as she looks Mr. Randall in the eye. She held a confident and honest gaze with the older man before he slowly turned to face Arvo. 

“Is that true young man?” Mr. Randall asks sternly. 

Arvo seems flustered for a second. 

“I- I did not try to attack him,” Arvo shakes his head and Clem watches Gabe roll his eyes in an annoyed manner. 

Gabe sits forward, “He did try to attack me. He pulled me back by my collar and tried to punch me just because I smiled at Clementine once or twice. If she hadn’t stepped in he would have punched me in the face just to ‘teach me a lesson.’ Clementine was protecting me and that’s it.” 

Mr. Randall seems to take a moment to process this before nodding. 

“Alright then. Arvo, you’ll be spending the rest of the week in detention. Gabe and Clementine, you two are free to go.” Arvo spits out a few Russian curses before storming out of the room as the end of the day bell rings. 

As Clementine and Gabe get up the leave, Mr. Randall stops Clem. “And Clementine, please just try not to punch people anymore.” He asks, and Clementine gives him a sorry smile. 

“Sorry Pete, I’ll try to do better,” she says. They share a smile before Clementine is heading out into the hallway. 

She’s surprised to Gabe standing outside the office waiting for her. She lets a few other students pass before she’s walking over to meet him. 

“Hey, thanks for backing me up in there.” She says as they start walking side by side down the hallway. 

“I wasn’t about to let you get in trouble for something that wasn’t your fault.” Gabe shrugs. Clem laughs at that, “Anyways, it’s what friends do.” 

At that, Clementine pauses. It was weird to have someone willingly call themselves her friend. Especially someone who almost got beaten up for just that. Mentally shaking her head of those thoughts, Clementine clears her throat. 

“Are you sure you want to say that out loud? Who knows who might attack you next,” she tries to joke, but Gabe pauses. 

Immediately thinking she had fucked it up, Clementine frowns as she turns around, 

“Sorry, I didn’t-“ she cuts herself off when she realizes Gabe is holding something out for her. 

His face was a light shade of red and he glanced up at her shyly. 

“I got you a gift? For basically saving my ass.” Gabe mentally cringed at how awkward and dumb he sounded. 

Clementine was shocked. It was a silver bracelet with a tiny ‘C’ in the middle. It was beautiful. 

“Gabe, no I can’t take this,” Clementine shakes her head, reaching over to lightly push his hand away. 

“No, really don’t worry about it. My uncle is famous and I took money from him to buy it,” that was a lie, “and the store doesn’t take returns,” another lie, “also I don’t exactly know anyone else who’s name starts with the letter ‘C’ so...” That last one was actually true. 

Clementine hesitated for a few seconds. Her own cheeks turning a shade of red as she stares down at his outstretched hand. Slowly, she takes it. 

“Thank you. That’s so incredibly sweet of you.” Clementine smiles genuinely at him. 

Gabe nods, “Yeah of course, I’ll see you later then,” He smiles before he’s quickly walking away. 

While Gabe was sprinting away from the situation that was so incredibly awkward for him, Clem stood in the same spot in the hallway, smiling down at the gift as her heart swells.

She has to blink away a few tears once he’s gone. Other than Lee and Kenny, she can’t remember the last time someone had gotten her a gift. Or when someone has just been willingly nice to her. She missed this feeling of normalcy. 

Carefully, not wanting to break it, Clementine clasps the chain around her wrist. She admires it for a few seconds before she too is walking down the hallway and out of the school, the bracelet slipping into a hiding place underneath the leather wristband that’s already on her wrist.


	3. Chapter 3

Gabe leaned back against the plastic park bench, squinting up at the bright sky through the trees. It was a surprisingly peaceful day despite the time of year calling for hot weather and annoying storms. 

Well, it would have been peaceful if Gabe had come to the park alone and without Drew, who never seemed to shut up. 

Don’t get him wrong, Drew was one of Gabe’s closest friends. But the guy could be a real pain in the ass at times. He just didn’t know when to stop talking or really even when to start. It could get annoying to say the least.

They had decided to come to the park next to school to study and get some air before heading to their respective hell on earth homes. Though more video game talk was going on at the moment than calculus. 

 

Gabe had been attempting to tune out Drew’s ramblings, when he overheard snatches of another conversation taking place several yards away

Drowning Drew out completely, Gabe turned to see a group of juniors, sitting at a bench closest to them. 

Normally, Gabe couldn’t have cared less about what the group of boys talked about. They sat across from his table at lunch and were usually pretty rowdy, but nothing to get overly annoyed at. 

Gabe hadn’t heard all of the conversation, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the part that he did hear. 

“Did you see Clementine today? She was so fucking pissy?” One of the shorter boys recalled, causing the others to nod in agreement. 

One in a jean jacket leaned forward, “I noticed that too? She’s in my study hall and literally looked like she was ready to bite my head off.” At that dramatic statment, the group burst with laughter. Without even realizing it, Gabe found himself rising to his feet and taking long strides over to where the group sat. 

The tallest speaks next, “God, really she can be such a bit-“ 

He was cut off by a fist colliding with his cheekbone. Immediately, Gabe cringes in pain, taking a few steps back as he grips his fist. 

From behind him, he can her Drew helpfully shout, “Dude, what the fuck?!” 

The group of boys is quiet as the tallest grips his cheek in pain. He looks at the senior for a few seconds before he’s swinging as well. 

This guy is clearly much stronger than Gabe. On the first swing alone, Gabe can tell his nose is broken. 

Numbly, as if he’s underwater, he feels himself hit the ground. A couple more blows land on his face before the tall boy is being tackled off of him. 

He brings a swimming hand up to his nose. Through unfocused eyes, he then pulls his hand away to gaze at his red stained fingers. He can feel and taste the blood, but looking at it on his fingers makes it so much more real. 

“Fuck…” Gabe groans, trying to push himself up before he feels someone gently put their hands on his shoulders. 

“Hey… hey Gabe, just lay down for a few seconds.” A soft voice instructs him. A hand moving from his shoulder to rest under his head to slowly guide him back down to rest. “That shit head hit you pretty hard, can you see me?” The voice asks, and Gabe struggles to find where it came from for a few seconds. 

Eventually a blurry figure comes into his field of vision. Slowly, it starts to focus and Gabe recognizes Clementine looking down at him with the light framing her perfectly. She looked really pretty. 

“Yeah...yeah I’m fine,” Gabe slowly found his words again as he brings his hand back to his still bleeding nose. “Did you watch all of that?” Gabe looks up at her again with a frown. 

Her worried features soften a little as they make eye contact. 

“No, all I saw was you on the ground and that asshole hitting you.” Gentle fingers trace his cheek bone and Gabe can feel his face start to heat up, “You’re going to have a pretty bad bruise there.” she mumbles to herself before sitting back and taking his hands to help him sit up now. 

“Here, I can take you to the gym right around the corner to help clean you up.” Clem offers, the hand that pulled him up now resting on the back of his shoulders. 

Gabe really didn’t feel like going home looking like this, so her offer sounded like the best case scenario. 

“Okay, yeah. Thanks.” He slowly bobs his head as a yes, and Clementine helps him to his feet. 

His arm is draped around her shoulders and hers winds around his waist as they start walking toward the nearby gym. 

“So, you didn’t see me get the first couple of punches in?” Gabe breaks the silence, looking down at her with a joking smile. 

A brow is raised before she’s laughing softly, “No, sadly I didn’t get to see that. I’m sure you did just as much damage to him as he did to you Gabe.” She smirks, making him pull a painful grin. 

“What was that about anyways? The fight I mean.” Clem asks, squinting up at him for a second before looking back ahead. 

Gabe shrugs a little, “He called you a bitch and I got pissed.” he quickly explained, realizing how embarrassing it was now that he said it out loud. But thankfully Clem didn’t laugh at him. In fact, she didn’t say anything. 

When he turned to look down at her again, he saw that she was smiling at the ground under their feet as they walked. A few seconds pass before she looks back up at him. 

“So, you punched some random guy because he called me a bitch?” she asks to confirm it. 

Gabe gives a slow nod, not really knowing exactly what her reaction was. But she smiles again and gently bumps him with her hip. 

“That’s… thanks Gabe. That’s really cool of you.” she says, and Gabe is quick to notice the blush on her cheeks as she looks away. 

“Yeah, no problem, Clem. What’re friends for?” Gabe laughs softly before they’re both quiet again. At some point, he swears he feels her lean more into his side and rest her head slightly on his shoulder, but he writes it off as him losing too much blood. 

They arrive to the empty gym and Gabe watches Clem pull out her keychain and unlock the front doors, holding it open for him. 

“Thankfully, this gym closes early so we’re the only two people here. No one has to see your bloody face.” Clem laughs, and Gabe gives a painful chuckle. “Here, just sit down and I’ll go wet a towel to get rid of all the blood,” Clem instructs him before she’s disappearing into what Gabe can assume is the women's locker room. 

He hears a sink turn on and then off before Clem is walking out with a damp white towel. 

“Don’t worry about getting blood on it, I can take it home and get the blood out before anyone realizes it’s gone.” Clem tells him as she sits back down. 

Realizing that she’s really the only one here who can see his face, she carefully begins to dab away the dried blood around his nose and chin. Gabe likes the way she squints and purses her lips when she’s focused on something. 

“So… you know how to get blood out of things?” He asks, trying to make conversation as she cleans him up. 

She spares him an amused glance before nodding, “Well, yeah? I didn’t want to get rid of my favorite pair of jeans so I had to figure it out.” Clem laughs through her nose and pulls a smirk. 

Gabe frowns at her for a couple of seconds, “How did you get blood on your jeans…” he slowly starts to trail off before it hits him. “Oh! Shit that...thing girls go through...yeah...sorry I forgot.” Gabe tries to laugh it off as Clem grins. 

“Yeah, that thing, you dork.” Clem says, and he can hear the smirk in her voice. He beings to roll his eyes before Clem is pressing too hard against the side of his nose and he’s cursing. 

“Shit...shit! I’m so sorry Gabe.” Clem instantly apologizes, setting the towel aside for a second as the pain fades. 

Taking a moment to cradle his nose, Gabe shakes his head slightly. “No, it’s fine. I’m good now.” he gives a small laugh as he slowly lets his hands drop. 

Opening his eyes again, he meets Clementines clearly worried gaze. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.” Clementine presses, slowly grabbing the now pinkish towel as Gabe nods. 

“Trust me, I’m fine. Well as fine as I can be with a broken nose.” Gabe assure her, and she slowly gets back to cleaning away the blood. 

A few more minutes filled with Clementine asking if he’s okay and Gabe confirming that he is go by, and she’s finally done. 

“Okay, it doesn’t look out of place or seem like there’s a lot of swelling, and the bleeding seems to have stopped… How’s your breathing?” Clementine asks, placing her hands on his jaw to gently turn his head from side to side to get a good look at his nose. 

Slowly, Gabe takes a deep breath through his nose, “Fine I guess?”

“Okay then. I don’t think you need to go see a doctor, but if it gets worse obviously you should. I’m not a nurse, just know the few basics.” Clementine smiles at him, dropping her hands back to his lap. “But you are going to have a lot of bruising, so sorry about that,” her happy smile drops into a more sympathetic smirk. 

He grazes his nose with his fingers for a few seconds before flinching away, “How do you know about this stuff anyways?” he asks. 

Clementine seems to hesitate for a second before she’s shrugging, “A couple years ago my uncle Kenny got beaten up by this guy and refused to go to the hospital so I had to help him get better.” She explains. 

“Oh...cool.” Gabe nods as Clementine stands up. 

“We should probably get home. Want me to walk you to your car?” Clementine offers as she grabs her bag. 

He shakes his head, standing up as well, “Nah. Thanks though.” Smiling hurts, but he still gives Clem a happy one. “For saving my ass again, and not letting me go home covered in blood.” Gabe watches her turn towards him again. 

She doesn’t seem to look him in the eyes for a few second, until she’s meeting his gaze with a shy smile.

“Of course... What are friends for?” She repeats his earlier statement before they both go their separate ways. 

——

Home is always a different story though. 

It wasn’t like he was expecting his dad and step mom to really fuss over him or anything. But it would’ve been nice to get some attention from them. 

When Gabe pushes the front door open, he was shocked when came face to face with his estranged uncle. 

“Javi? Uh… What are you doing here?” Gabe asks after a slight pause. His uncle stares at him for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say. 

“I’m… I’m back in town for a few days, buddy.” his uncle gives an awkward smile before a yell from inside the house is catching both boys attention. “I should probably get going. Some old friends want to meet up while we can.” Javi is quick to make an exit. Slipping past the boy and to the car parked out on the street. 

Gabe watches him for a few seconds before turning back into the house. Dad and Kate were shouting in the kitchen over something Gabe really couldn’t understand. He swears he heard Javi’s name once or twice, but once he was in his room everything was shut out. 

As Clementine had predicted, bruises were already blooming on his face. His nose was red and ugly bruises were starting to form under his eyes. Kate wasn’t the same skin tone as him, so he doubted she would have anything he could use to cover them up. If Mari was still around, maybe she would have sometime useful. 

Gabe groans and pulls his shirt off before changing into some pajamas. Not like he was planning on going anywhere anyways. 

For the next few hours, Gabe sits in his room. When all the yelling finally stopped and he heard the front door slam shut, Gabe emerged from his room and made his way into the kitchen to get a drink. 

He saw Kate sitting on the couch, head in her hands and shoulders shaking. Gabe considered reaching out to comfort her, but panicked and retreated back to his bedroom without a drink.

Another hour passed silently. Gabe did some homework while he could before it bored him too much. Then he just sat on his phone. 

At some point, his dad got home. And with food apparently. 

“Gabriel! Dinner!” Is what finally pulls Gabe out of his room. Kate is silent at the dining room table while his dad lays out the takeout. David barely spares Gabe a glance when he enters the room. 

“How was school, mijo?” his father questions. 

Gabe glares at the older man as he sits down. “Fine. Nothing too drastic happened,” Gabe drawls sarcastically as he takes his styrofoam box of food. 

“Well that’s disappointing, you didn’t learn anything new?” David sits down finally, opening his own box of food. 

“Never do, dad.” Gabe rolls his eyes, picking at his food. It doesn’t exactly seem too appetizing at the moment. 

Gabe can feel his father's temper boiling, but before he snaps, Kate speaks up. 

“Gabe! Oh my god, what happened to your face?” His step mom asks in a panic, her fork dropping to the table. But Gabe doesn’t look up from playing with his food. 

“I punched a guy, and he punched back harder,” Gabe explains, glancing towards his dad for a few seconds. 

Surprisingly, David seems to have a proud smile on. He leans over to slap Gabe on the back of his shoulder. 

“That’s my boy, almost as strong as your old man at your age.” David laughs, keeping a hand on his son's shoulder. 

The grip Gabe has on his fork tightens for a few seconds before he shrugs off his dad's hand. 

“Actually, I lost the fight. He beat me into the ground. Broke my nose. This girl had to save me.” he reveals, giving his father a hard look. 

The pride is quick to drop from his father's features. He opens his mouth to say something but Gabe cuts him off. 

“I also almost got beat up like two days ago, too. And called to the principal's office. Almost got suspended. But not like either of you care.” Gabe spits out, sending a hard look Kate’s way too. 

“Gabriel! Do not take that tone with me!” David’s voice is deep and filled with rage. But it doesn’t phase Gabe, who sits back in his chair, crossing his arms and staring down his father. 

“Oh, is that who I’m talking to? Not like you ever act like my father. Remember when Javi raised me for four years because you decided to fuck off and disappear for a few years? Remember when Mariana died and you weren’t even here? And you couldn’t even make it to the funeral because you didn’t even know she was dead until you came home?” Gabe is furious now. Slamming his fork down onto the dining room table, making Kate flinch and David jump out of his seat. 

“Gabriel! You go to your room right this instant before I make you!” David’s fist is clenched in a way that makes Gabe fear for the rest of his unbruised skin. 

Gabe glances back to his room, but his keys on the counter catch his eyes. “I’ll do you one better, dad. I’m leaving. I’ll stay with Drew or something.” Gabe snaps, standing to snatch his keys before his dad can. 

“If you put a foot outside of this house, Gabriel, you will not be let back in!” his father threatens as Gabe steps into his shoes. 

“You never keep your promises, dad. What will make you keep this one?” Gabe glares, yanking the front door open before stepping out and slamming it shut it behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m like right out front Lee, I’ll be inside in literally two minutes… Look I was hungry Lee. I couldn’t not stop at the new Taco Bell.” Clementine pouts into the phone as she juggles her gym bag and the paper bag with four bean burritos. Two were for Lee of course, unless he didn’t want them. 

Lee’s impatient tone makes the teen roll her eyes, “Whatever, it was my own money. Look why don’t we talk about my poor spending habits face to face in a couple minutes?” Clem pauses in her stride as the muffled sound of music reaches her ears. 

“Yeah okay. See you there.” Clem finally hangs up, tucking her phone in her back pocket as she squints at the lone car in the parking lot. 

She’s quick to recognize the car as Gabe’s, and questions are quick to rise. 

Adjusting her grip on the paper bag she starts forward again, but instead of walking to the gym where Lee is waiting, she angles herself towards Gabe’s car. 

The music blasting from inside increases in volume as she gets closer, and she can eventually see Gabe sitting in the front seat with his eyes closed. He clearly hasn’t, or won’t, notice her, so Clementine decides to get his attention. 

Once she’s close enough, she reaches out to tap on the window. 

The sudden noise startles the boy and his eyes snap open and he shouts a, “Holy shit!” out of shock as he rapidly turns down the music. 

At his sudden reaction, Clem steps backwards in surprise. When the music is barely audible, the two teens make eye contact for a few seconds. Slowly, Clem raises a hand in a slight wave, a shy smile crossing her lips. 

At the sight of his new friend, Gabe physically relaxes. Placing a hand over his quickly beating heart, he turns off his car and steps out. 

“Hey… Clementine. Jesus, you scared me.” Gabe laughs as he shuts the door behind him, then brings the hand up to the back of his neck as she stares at him for a few seconds. 

Clementine blinks a couple times. He was… smiling at her? Like he was happy to see her? Pushing the butterflies in her stomach away, she brings herself back to reality. 

“Uh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you… I just saw you and- are you hungry?” At her question, she holds up the still warm bag from Taco Bell. 

At the mention of food, Gabe’s stomach groans. They both look toward the noise before Gabe is looking back at Clementine, “I’m starving.” he beams. 

They end up sitting on the hood of Gabe’s car, eating Clem’s share of burritos and sharing a water bottle from Gabe’s car. 

“Yeah… I stopped playing soccer after I ran into the goal post and knocked out a baby tooth,” Clementine explains with a grin, making Gabe choke on his laughter. She didn’t know how this topic came up, but they were both loving the story. 

“How--” Gabe struggles to breath from laughing, “how did you run into a goal post?” He asks, placing a hand down on the hood. 

A delighted smile stayed on her features as she shrugs and shakes her head, “I dunno! I think I was looking behind me to try and find where the ball was, and when I turned around, there was the post!” They both fall into laughter again, Gabe’s hand going to hold his stomach as Clem brings hers up to cover her mouth. 

Once the laughter calms down, and they’re left with soft giggles, Gabe looks up at Clem again. “Hey, thanks for this. I was having a pretty shitty night, and was pretty pissy a bit ago, but you made it way better.” he confesses, reaching over and placing a hand on her knee. 

Failing to fight away a blush, Clementine smiles back. “Yeah, of course. Just trying to do what I can.” she responds, dropping her hand to rest on top of his for a second. 

She gently squeezes his hand before sliding off the hood to clean up their trash. “Oh...hey if you don’t wanna go home yet, you can hang out with me and my dad while we spar? Just to keep you busy for a while longer?” Clem offers as she walks to the nearby trash can. 

Gabe hesitates for a moment, lifting his phone to check the time. “Why not? Not like my dad cares where I am. I told him I was spending the night at Drew’s anyways.” Gabe says bitterly before as he hops off the hood. 

At that, Clementine turns around, raising a brow at him. “Were you planning on sleeping in your car then?” She questions as she wipes her hands off on her jeans. 

Gabe shrugs. “I’ll probably just sneak back into my room after my dad and stepmom go to sleep.”he explains, and Clem nods in understanding. 

“Fun! Let’s head to the gym.” She picks her gym bag up, and they’re walking. 

 

Clementine hasn’t even opened the door, and she can already feel Lee’s disapproval seeping out onto the street. 

Slowly, she pushes open the door, cringing at the sound of the bell that alerts her presence to her father.

“Clementine!” Lee shouts his daughters name. Dodging the work out equipment to meet her in the doorway, wrapping his arms around her small frame as he pulls her close. “Where were you? Why weren’t you responding to my texts? Are you okay?” Lee backs up, keeping a strong grip on her shoulders as he surveys her. 

Clementine rolls her eyes, using her forearms to push him away, “Yeah dad, I’m fine. I just got sidetracked by my friend, Gabe.” she steps aside, revealing the tall boy to Lee. “He’s the boy I told you about, who broke his nose and saved me from suspension. He’s my friend.” Her annoyed expression melts into a soft smile as Gabe’s hand shoots out. 

“Uh… hi! I’m Gabe, Clementines friend… like she said, yeah.” Gabe stumbles over his words, glancing over to Clementine before back at her father. 

A hard look crosses the man's face as he looks to boy over, eyeing his hand for a second before he’s looking at his daughter, who seems to be holding back laughter at her friends awkward nature. Slowly, the hard look fades away. “It’s nice to meet you Gabe.” Lee gives a tight smile as he shakes the boys hand. 

Gabe physically relaxes at that. Sharing a firm handshake with the man before dropping his hand. Almost as soon as Gabe had let go of Lee’s hand, the adult was balling it into a fist and turning to swing at his daughter. 

Clementine is quick to step back, eyes wide as she stares at him. “Dad!! You can’t just do that in front of Gabe!” Clementine groans, weakly punching her father's shoulder then looks at Gabe with an exasperated face. “Sorry, he wasn’t actually trying to hurt me. Just… a thing we do?” Clem glances away as she tries to explain it. “Yeah… it’s just a thing he does,” she looks back at her dad with a small glare, “I’m gonna change and then be right back.” She turns to head toward the locker room. 

She was a little nervous to leave Gabe and Lee alone together, since she didn’t want Lee scaring her new friend off, but she trusted Lee. 

“Is there somewhere I can sit?” Gabe awkwardly asks Lee as he watches the older man fit his hand into a glove. 

Lee looks at him for a second before nodding, pointing to a long bench overlooking the sparring pad, “You can sit there.” he replies as he flexes his hand. 

It’s silent for a few moments as Gabe gets settled, but then Lee is speaking again. 

“So, not much of a fighter?” The man asks as he turns around, watching the boy as he gets comfortable. 

Gabe pauses before he’s shrugging. “I guess not. I try sometimes but it… doesn’t always end well.” he laughs awkwardly, briefly looking back towards the locker room Clem has disappeared into, wishing she would just come back out. 

Nodding slowly, Lee turns around, walking around the mat. “Maybe you can start training with me and Clementine? I’m no body builder but after a few years I think I’ve picked up a few things to pass on to another teenager like you.” Lee offers, looking behind Gabe as Clementine walks out finally. 

“Yeah! That’d be cool, I guess. I mean I’d like to be able to actually defend myself.” Gabe smiles, before choking on his spit as Clem comes into view. She’s smiling at him as she ties her chin length hair into the best ponytail tail she can manage at the moment. 

“I see you guys are bonding.” She laughs, looking between the two. Dropping her hands from her hair to grab some gloves of her own. “I leave you alone for less than five minutes and he’s already trying to buff you up.” Clem laughs, finally turning back to Gabe. 

Instantly switching his wide eyed gaze to an attempted relaxed expression, Gabe looks away. “Haha...yeah… I guess he is.” Gabe stumbles, trying to place his hands on the bench to lean back. Wanting to look as if he wasn’t just blushing by just looking at the girl. 

Granted she did walk out in a sports bra and leggings so it was a least a little warranted. But was wasn’t exactly warranted was making a complete fool of himself for the second time in a day. 

Gabe had planned on getting a good grip on the back of the bench to just look chill, but he hadn’t planned on missing the back of the bench, making him fall backwards onto the gym floor. 

He hears Clem gasp and Lee laugh out as he hits the ground. 

“Oh my god Gabe, are you okay?” Clem asks in a panic as she rushed forward to try and help him up. 

Trying to wave her off, Gabe slides his legs off of the bench, to help himself. “Yeah...uh yeah. I’m fine. I guess I’m just very accident prone today?” Gabe jokes as he rubs the back of his head. 

“Are you sure you’re good? You don’t need any ice- or uh Advil?” Clem asks in a panic as she squats down in front if him on the other side of the bench. Though she does quickly look back to Lee, “Do we even have any ice?” She questions, frowning at Lee’s clear amusement as he shrugs. 

“Trust me… trust me I’m fine, I’m good.” Gabe laughs again as he slowly situated himself back onto the bench. “I’m stronger than I look, at times.” again he tries to joke. 

That gets a small smile out of the girl, but t doesn’t wipe away the concern on her face. 

“Just get back to the training,” he briefly touches her shoulder, coaxing her to stand up. 

“Yeah, okay. Just holler if you need anything.” the calming smile she gives almost sends him back off the bench once more. 

He nods and gives a quick thumbs up. Clementine watches him carefully as she slowly backs up to where Lee was still waiting for her. 

Clem grabs a pair of gloves and slides them on. she flexes her hands a few times like Lee did, before she’s starting to throw slow and steady punches into the padded mitts. 

“So… Gabe, what do you like to do for fun?” Lee asks, glancing back between his and his daughter. 

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Gabe looks away from Clementine and towards her father. “Oh, uh I like to do the usual teenage boy stuff I guess? Video games, I use to skateboard some but was never really my thing, uh me and my friend like pranks too?” Gabe lists off. 

Clementine raises a brow at his words, a smile forming as she looks at him from the corner of her eye. But Gabe doesn’t notice since he’s looking down at his hands. 

“I used to play cards, checkers, and some chess with my sister. She was always better at me with chess though.” a sad smile crosses his face. 

Lee frowns, forming a curious look on his face. “Used to? What happened?” he asks.

As if she can sense Gabe tensing up, Clementine purposefully misses the mitt and slams her fist into Lee’s chest, “Le-Dad?!” Clementine hisses, glancing toward the boy who has yet to look up. 

“Oh...oh, oh I’m sorry, Gabriel. I shouldn’t have asked, it’s not my business.” Lee quickly covers, taking a mitt off to rub his chest where Clem has punched him. 

Shaking his head, Gabe glances up towards the duo. “No, it’s fine. It happened four years ago,” he reassured them. “We were driving home from dinner, and my uncle was playing her favorite song and the whole family was singing along,” a bittersweet smile crosses his features at the memory, “a drunk driver had ran a red light, and crashed right into Mariana’s door. She died on impact, so at least she didn’t feel any pain?” Gabe shrugs, glancing between the father and daughter. 

Lee’s face was dark and depressed, while Clementines was full of sorrow. 

“I’m… I’m sorry for your loss,” Clementine pushes out. “I lost my,” She glances toward Lee, as if silently asking him something, so when he shakes his head no she continues “mom...when I was really young, so I can sort of understand how you feel.” she tries to relate before cringing. She had never been good with making people feel better. 

But Gabe still smiles at her, “Thank you, but it’s fine. It’s been four years, so it’d be pretty weird if I was still in the deep grieving stage.” he laughs softly. 

A sympathetic smile is sent his way from Clementine before Lee is breaking the sadness. “Hey, Gabe, why don’t you come stand in for me? Let Clem throw some punches as you and then throw some back?” He offers, taking the mitts off and tossing them towards the boy. 

“Uh…” Gabe’s eyes unwillingly travel to Clementines bare stomach before he’s snapping his gaze back to his lap as his cheeks flare up. “Yeah-- okay...sure,” Gabe agrees, shrugging off his jacket to leave himself in his t shirt and sweatpants. Sure, it’s technically his pajamas but hey, they could be work out clothes too?

Clementine keeps a smile on her face as she watches Gabe slip on the mitts, “Thankfully I’m tired today so you’re not gonna be getting what I give my dad when I have energy, just here, stand like this,” she steps closer to him to help him into a good position before taking hold of his arms to raise them. “It shouldn’t hurt, but if it does, just scream out in pain and I’ll probably stop.” Clementine teases, pushing her knuckles against his shoulders as she steps back, brushing some stray curls out of her face. 

Carefully, Clementine starts punching. Her soft look melts into a more focused and hard one, and Gabe honestly cannot comprehend how someone could be so pretty. 

He can see sweat start to bead on her collar bones and forehead, and he can feel sweat start to pool under his arms and on his forehead as well. He’s sure the back of his white shirt is probably see through by the time Clementine decides to step back. 

“So, do you wanna punch now?” Clem asks after she chugs some water and wipes her mouth clean with the back of her hand. 

Gabe had thought he had gotten pretty good at not letting his gaze drop past her collar bones, but he finds himself staring at her toned stomach once more before he’s choking himself out of his thoughts. “Uh, yeah! But I’m super fucking hot, so uh, can I take off my shirt?” He awkwardly asks, glancing over towards Lee who was totally not watching their every move over on some weight training equipment. 

“Yeah! Sure, go for it.” Clementine shrugs, stripping off her gloves to trade for the mitts, “I’ve seen a ton of guys shirtless in here so it’s nothing new,” she smiles, turning back toss her gloves into Lee’s pile. 

At her confirmation, Gabe nods. Pulling off the sweaty and gross shirt and laying it to rest with his jacket before his stepping back into the matt with Clementine. 

“Don’t worry about hitting too hard, I do train with dad every- oh!” Clementine cuts herself off when she turns around to face a now incredibly shirtless Gabe. “Oh...yeah. Okay. Yeah you just told me you were gonna-- okay, let’s punch.” Clementine forces herself to look her friend in the eyes as she holds up her hands. 

Both teenagers faces are a bright shade of red as Clementine trains Gabe on how to spar properly. While Gabe was more inconspicuous, Clementine had no idea what subtly was, as she could rarely find herself looking anywhere other than Gabe’s bare chest. 

Finally, Gabe decided it was time to go home, and Clem was quick to offer to walk him out to the car. 

“Are you sure? It’s like freezing outside right now? And you’re not exactly wearing anything warm.” Gabe observes and Clem just shrugs. 

“I’ll only be outside for a minute, I think I can handle it.” She laugh, but Gabe hesitates. 

After putting on his shirt, Gabe grabs his jacket. Instead of putting it on, he hands it to Clementine. She frowns at him, “Gabe really, I’m fine, it’s not like I’m gonna freeze to death.” she smiles playfully and rolls her eyes. 

Not taking no for an answer, he drapes the jacket around her shoulders before walking to the door, “Ah shit, I forgot my jacket.” he says halfway before turning back to the girl with a smirk, “Can you bring it to me out at my car?” He asks, the smirk growing into a grin. 

“You asshole.” Clementine laughs, but she’s following him out the door, hugging the jacket to her shoulders. 

Outside, they walk arm to arm back to Gabe’s car. “It’s not even that cold out you prick.” Clementine laughs again, elbowing him in the side. 

“Really? Then why do you still have my jacket on?” Gabe asks, grinning ear to ear. 

Clementine halfheartedly punches his shoulder, “Shut up, oh my god.” she shakes her head, laughter lacing her words. 

Once they make it to the car, Clementine stays on the sidewalk as Gabe unlocks his car. “Tonight was super fun. I owe you a lot Clementine.” Gabe says, taking the jacket that she was already handing out to him. 

“No problem, I’m always here to help.” She say, and he nods. 

“Yeah, I know. You always seem to be right there when I need you.” he says softly as he places the jacket into his car. 

A blush is back on her cheeks as she holds her arm, “Hey, uh my uncle is out of town this weekend, so I was wondering if you’d wanna help me do some work on his boat? It’s not fun alone, but with a friend it would be a lot better?” she offers with a shrug. 

“Well, I know nothing about boats, but I’d love to. How hard can it be?” Gabe accepts with a laugh. 

“Cool! I’ll see you this weekend then!” Clementine says, taking a few steps backwards. 

“Yeah, cool! See you.” Gabe calls before stepping into his car. 

Clementine watches him drive off for a moment before she turns to walk back to the gym so she and Lee can head home. 

It’s peaceful for a few seconds after she’s back inside. But Lee just has to open his mouth. 

“So… Saw you and Gabriel talking out there.” he teases from the bench. 

Groaning, Clementine flips him off before once more disappearing into the locker room. 

Lee laughs to himself and shakes his head. Smiling down at the ground for a few seconds before the smile fades. 

Because happiness doesn’t last forever.


	5. Chapter 5

Drew’s basement had always been a good place for Gabe to escape to after a shitty day at his own home. All the fighting and yelling was just too much for him to handle sometimes. He found fighting and yelling at a tv screen to be a lot more fun. 

Though, seeing as Drew only really wanted to play fortnite, Gabe spent majority of the time complaining to his friend while he played. 

“Ever since he caught me sneaking back inside that night after the huge fight, he won’t talk to me,” Gabe confesses, leaning back into the beanbag he had adopted as his own. 

“Actually, that's a lie. He only talks to me to tell me how bad of an influence Clementine is on me. Seriously can you believe that? God people just look at her and immediately assume she’s some hard core badass,” Gabe pauses before shrugging, “I mean I guess she is a badass? But she’s not actively aggressive.” Gabe groans. Rubbing his face with his hands for a split second before wincing at the pain. 

When he recovers for the slight pain that still shoots from his face, he sits up. “Did you know that’s the only time she’s ever even touched alcohol was because some 8th grader offered it to her, but even then she said no,” he shakes his head again, “If people would actually bother to get to know her they’d see she’s actually a pretty cool girl.” Gabe looks to Drew, who has died in his game and is sitting staring listlessly at the screen. 

“But not like my dad would ever give her a fucking chance,” his hands grip the fabric as he tries to sit up straight, turning his head back to the other boy when he receives no response. “Hey, you good?” he asks, trying to get some form of communication out of him. 

Drew seems to hesitate. His grip on the controller tightening before glancing up at Gabe with a tentative look. 

“Dude... I have to agree with your dad for once.” Drew starts. Gabe’s eyes widen at that, blinking in shock for a few moments. 

“Wait, what the fuck do you mean?” Gabe’s shocked look shifts into a defensive glare. Features hardening as he gets ready for a fight. 

“Ever since you met her, you’ve become a completely different person.” Gabe starts to deny it before Drew cuts him off, “Gabe, in the past two weeks ago you were threatened with suspension, got into multiple fights, ran away from home--- Dude, you almost got your fucking nose broken! And it’s all because of Clementine.” Drew finishes, controller forgotten on the couch. 

Seething with anger, Gabe pushes himself to stand. For a moment, Drew is scared Gabe is going to punch him, but Gabe just turns away. “I don’t need to hear this shit.” he grabs his bag and starts to jog upstairs. 

“She’s going to be the fucking death of you Gabe!” Drew calls out dramatically to his once best friend before groaning as the front door slams shut. 

——-

The drive back home was hard for Gabe. The frustration from the conversation with Drew made him want to drive his car into a ditch, and the fact that Clementine was out of town until tomorrow didn’t help. So the only place he could go was home. Thankfully, dad was at work until ten today, Javi rarely got back before twelve, and Kate knew to leave Gabe alone. 

That being said, Gabe doesn’t know why Javi’s car would be in the driveway at four in the afternoon. 

Frowning at the vehicle, Gabe turns off his own car and gets out. He quickly checks his phone to see if he had received any texts from Clementine while walking up to the front door. 

Gabe wonders if Javi is sick, or hurt, or something drastic. He couldn’t think of a single logical explanation for why his uncle would be back so early otherwise. Thankfully, the front door is unlocked so Gabe doesn’t have to search through his bag to find his key or wait for Kate to open the door for him. 

Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Gabe enters the house. Dropping his bag before freezing in the doorway. 

The scene before him makes his stomach turn and his face heat up from embarrassment. Kate and Javi were laying on the couch in the living room, making out as if Kate wasn’t married to Javi’s brother. 

The noise of his bag seems to startle them away from each other. Gabe meets Javi’s shocked eyes before looking towards Kate. 

“What— what the fuck? Uncle Javi- Kate? What the hell are you doing?” Gabe asks, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed. 

Kate seems in too much or shock to speak, so Javi stands up, hands raised in a defensive manner. 

“Gabe, buddy, calm down. This was a one time thing-“

“Bullshit! Why the fuck are you two making out in the middle of the fucking house?” Gabe bursts, stumbling back as his uncle steps towards him. 

“Gabe--” Kate tries to interject but Gabe cuts her off with a glare. 

“Kate, you are married to my fucking dad, and have been for years now! What the fucking hell?” Gabe asks. His fists are clenched and he’s ready to punch in case anyone gets too close. 

During the four years their dad was gone, Gabe and Mariana had both noticed how close the two adults had gotten, but Mariana always calmed Gabe’s thoughts by explaining how they both missed dad and needed each other's support. But dad was back now. And Kate was still married to him. And Javi was still David’s brother. 

“Gabe… please don’t--- Shit. Just--- just don’t tell your dad, okay?” Javi begs his nephew, “With his work and everything, this would just make everything so much worse for him.” Cautiously, Javi reaches out to put a hand on Gabe’s shoulder.

The hand on his shoulder isn’t the only weight that has been placed onto him. The knowledge of the affair and the fact that he knew how his father would react to it. If he found out, it would destroy their entire family. 

So Gabe shuts his mouth. Nods his head. And hides away in his room. 

—-  
Over the next few days, Gabe avoided any contact with his family. He couldn’t handle seeing his dad kiss Kate’s cheek, or the way Kate would look past his father to meet eyes with Javi when they kissed. It all made him sick. Thankfully, Clementine had gotten back so he could spend a lot more time at the gym with her and her dad. 

Of course he instantly told them the whole story, since they were the only people in his life he felt he could trust anymore. They were sympathetic, and that was good enough. 

When he was at home, he mainly stuck to his room. Claiming to be studying for some important upcoming test, though in reality Gabe already knew the basics and was confident enough in his abilities. He only actually opened the book once or twice. 

He took the test on Monday, and as expected, it was easy. Only a handful of questions in the middle and end confused him, but that was it. 

It was Thursday now, and his teacher announced that the class average was about 85% which was good enough for Gabe. 

His back pressed into the plastic chair, he shook his leg as he waited for the teacher to place his test on his desk. When she did, he tried to get a look at her face to give him an idea of what he got without looking, but she had already moved onto the person behind him. 

Gabe waits a few seconds, taking his time to pack up the rest of his items before the bell rings. Keeping the test face down as he slides it off the desk and puts his backpack back onto his shoulders. He lets a few other kids pass him before he flips the test over again, staring down at the number and the note at the top of the test. 

‘43%- Please see me after class Gabriel.’

For a second time in the week, Gabe’s stomach turns. He glances up, meeting the teachers expectant eyes for a second before he pushes his way out of the classroom. 

Weaving his way through the sea of students, crumbling the paper up into a ball as he tries to find his locker. He doesn’t want this shit test anywhere near him for the rest of the day. 

A 43%?! Who the fuck gets a 43% on a fucking test? He knew the subject forwards and backwards. This was just fucking bullshit. Of course he would fail this test. Why wouldn’t he? 

He inputs the code to his locker, resisting the urge to slam his fist into the metal when he gets it wrong. 

Finally, the door swings open. He slides a book into the depths before shoving the paper in. Not really watching or caring where it falls. Once the disgraced paper is out of his hand, he slams the door shut again, hastily placing the lock back on before walking away. 

Once he’s around the corner, he almost crashes into some freshman girls. His shoe suddenly slippery on the linoleum floor. 

He gives a quick apology to the startled girls before bending down to pull a small piece of paper off the bottom of his shoe. He turns to drop it into a nearby trash can but stops when he sees his name. 

Turning the it over, Gabe is shocked to find a note. 

“Dear Gabe-  
So this is totally 2010 huh? Well I guess this is the only way I can really get this across without being a total idiot in person. I like you Gabe. Like a lot. And I have for a while. I would go into depth, but this is a sticky note, and I have like no room. So yeah. Uh- meet me by the outdoor pillars 30 minutes after the buses leave if you want to see who this is. See you then!”

By the time he’s finished, the smile and blush on his face is undeniable. 

There’s no name or really any way for Gabe to know who wrote the note until thirty minutes after the buses leave, but there is only one girl Gabe hopes it is. 

For the rest of the day, Gabe can’t get the note out of his head. Clementine really didn’t seem like the kind of girl to write handwritten notes... But she had acted a little weird at lunch. Nothing too drastic, but just… different? Gabe tried not to let it go to his head, but he really hoped she would be the one waiting for him after school. 

Once the final bell rings, Gabe takes his time walking from the locker rooms around to the front of the school where the pillars are. He stops by the vending machines and grabs a snack while he waits. 

Five minutes before, Gabe throws away his trash and heads to the pillar. Heart on his sleeve as he prepares to face the girl he hopes is waiting for him. 

As he pushes open the double doors, Gabe frowns when he only notices a girl with long, light brown hair standing there, texting away on her phone, oblivious to Gabe standing ten feet away. 

His heart sinks. But then he mentally curses himself. 

Seriously, why would Clementine ever like him? She was totally out of his league and he had only ever been a burden on her. She was probably annoyed that she had to keep saving his pathetic ass. God, how could he have been so fucking stupid? 

Disappointment fills his body, and he gets ready to walk away but then he realizes someting. 

This girl was probably the only person who would ever actually have feelings for him. The only person who would ever care about him. He could finally have someone to talk to, hold hands with, pick up and spin around when he hugs them, he could have someone to kiss and love. 

Swallowing his pride, Gabe makes his way over to the female, coughing to get her attention when he’s close enough. 

“Gabe! Oh my god--- hi!“ the girl jumps, turning around to smile bashfully at him. It’s an old friend, Claire. They’ve known each other since... probably 7th grade? She was nice and funny, so Gabe smiles at her. “Sorry I didn’t see you earlier.” she starts but Gabe shakes his head. 

“It’s fine, I’m early anyways.” he smiles. Claire looks away, seeming unsure of what to say. “Hey, uh why don’t we hang out this weekend? The mini golf place is pretty fun, and not to toot my own horn, but I am a master mini golfer.” Gabe offers, despite the smile on his face there’s a pit in his stomach. 

Claire seems surprised at his offer, but quickly nods. “Yeah! Oh my god, that’s sounds great--- better than what I had in mind--- which was nothing actually.” They both laugh at that.

They spend the next few minutes together, chatting and exchanging numbers before Claire has to go. “See you this weekend, Gabe!” She calls as she walks away. 

Gabe gives a wave and a smile as he walks to his own car. “Yeah, see you then!”


	6. Chapter 6

It was always hard to adjust back to everyday life after a family reunion--- if you could even really call it that. That was basically just the excuse Lee used to get Clementine out of school for a few days.

What the few days really consisted of was Lee watching over Kenny as he got drunk off his ass at his family's graves while Clementine wandered around. Hands deep in the pockets of her jacket as the slight drizzle made her hair frizz up and the grey landscape glossy. The night then consisted of Kenny sobbing on how he should’ve been there more. Been a better father. A better friend. A better husband. 

Lee and Clem eventually managed to get the man to calm down and fall asleep, but not without a few tears of their own. Not only for the family Kenny lost, but for those they had lost as well. 

Once Kenny was asleep and they were in their own hotel room, Clementine looks up from her phone as Lee walks out of the bathroom. Eyes falling back to her phone for a few seconds before she’s taking a sad breath. 

“I miss Duck,” she sighs, her voice tight as she turns off her phone. “He could be annoying sometimes but he was a good friend.” Her vision starts to blur as she thinks about everyone in her past. Meeting Lee’s eyes with a quivering lip. “I miss them Lee, I miss them so much.” She breaks, clutching her phone to her chest as Lee sits down next to her. 

Resting her head on his chest as his arms hold her close. Slowly calming her as he strokes her hair. “They miss you too Clem, I know they do.” he comforts her before pulling back so he could meet her eyes. “They’re here for you Clem. They’re always watching over you.” Lee wipes away her falling tears. 

It’s not often Clementine lets her feelings out. But sometimes it’s just too much for her to handle. So when she does cry, it’s hard to stop. 

They spend the rest of the night curled up on Clementine's bed. Lee whispering soothing words while Clementine sobs into his chest. Neither of them get much sleep that night, so on the drive home Kenny takes the wheel while Lee sleeps in the passenger and Clementine in the back seat. 

It was hard to go back to school after that. She was used to being able to curl up in her room for a few days afterwards, but this time she had to jump straight back in. 

When she got back on Thursday, she still wasn’t one hundred percent there, and she was sure Gabe could tell she was acting a little different. She had planned on catching him after school, but then decided to spend some more time at the gym so she left as soon as the final bell rang. 

The next Monday, Clementine was back to normal. Well, as normal as she could be. The weather was nice again, and Kenny was hosting a barbecue in his backyard the upcoming Friday. 

Clementine never really had any desire to go to them, seeing as it was mainly full of Kenny and Lee’s old guy friends, and being a teenage girl, that didn’t exactly seem like an appealing way to spend her time. 

So Lee would always go alone while Clementine stuck to her room, playing the sims or something. 

But now she had Gabe, and she knew it would be a lot more fun if he went with her. They could hang out at the lake behind Kenny’s house, roast s’mores, look at the stars... Normal friend stuff. 

Kenny hadn’t been to thrilled with the idea of Clementine bringing a boy to the bonfire, but after some convincing from Lee, he finally agreed. 

“But don’t expect me to be all friendly with him.” Kenny grumbled to the teen before patting her shoulder as she grinned back at him. 

The whole school day, the pending invitation consumed Clementine’s mind. Not like it was that important, just that she really wanted him to say yes. No big deal though. 

The hour before lunch felt like an eternity and Clementine couldn’t stop shaking her leg. She was unable to focus on the lecture the teacher was giving the class and found herself mentally rehearsing the conversation over and over in her mind.

Despite how excited she was to talk to him, when the bell rings for her to go to lunch, Clementine takes her time packing up her things, attempting to ignore her rising anxiety. Once she was out of the classroom, she couldn’t help her quick paced walk. 

Weaving through the starving crowd, Clementine catches sight of the table she and Gabe frequented, and was surprised to see an unexpected guest. Holding hands with Gabe. And laughing. 

Clementine’s chest tightens, but she pushes the feeling down as she walks over. Neither of the teens at the table seem to notice her until she’s standing in front of them. Lips pressed tight and eyes narrowed in anticipated rudeness from the girl. But all Clem gets is a bright smile. 

“Oh, hi, Clem!” Gabe smiles as he turns to his friend before gesturing to the girl sitting next to him, “Uh, this is Claire, I don’t know if you know her?” he says, and Clementine’s wary expression shifts to a softer, more skeptic one. 

“Hi Clementine, it’s nice to meet you.” the girl gives her a small nod, the polite smile never dropping from her features. 

Slowly, Clementine smiles back. Her eyes staying hard before she turns to Gabe. Unaware of how her defensive look melts to one of trust. “Sorry to interrupt, but my uh, my uncle was wondering--- I mean I was wondering if you wanted to come to this barbecue bonfire thing he’s having on Friday? I can pick you up or we can just meet there or whatever works for you.” She had been waiting for this moment all day but now she felt self conscious, and she couldn’t help but constantly look over to Claire, who doesn’t take her eyes off of Gabe. 

Slowly, Gabe’s smile starts to fall and with it, Clementine’s heart. She feels a slight wave of nausea as he glances at Claire before back at her with a sympathetic look on his face. 

“That sounds really fun, Clem, fuck, but Claire and I already have something planned.” he starts, but Claire stops him. 

“No! Gabe you should go, seriously! The date isn’t that important,” Claire laughs, touching his arm, and again Clementine feels her heart tighten. Subconscious gripping at her wrist as Gabe pauses for a moment, looking between the two girls, opening his mouth before Clementine cuts him off, shaking her head. 

“Actually, you should go on the date. Trust me,” she gives a weak laugh, “the bonfire probably won’t be that fun. I honestly wasn’t sure if I even wanted to go, anyways,” she rolls her eyes, “Just a bunch of old drunk guys, complaining about dumb shit. We can hang out some other time.” Clementine forces a smile. 

Checking a fake notification on her phone, Clementine comes up with a quick excuse, “Hey, I can’t stay for lunch, I have something going on, but I’ll see you later, and it was uh… it was nice meeting you, Claire.” Clementine speaks quickly, taking a few steps backwards. 

She turns away before she could hear Gabe’s response. Running away from her problems. 

Lee was going to be pissed when he learned that Clementine ditched school, but she couldn’t stay there a second longer. She felt her face burning with shame as she made her way to the parking lot. 

Why would Gabe want to spend time with her messed up self? He was a great guy, it wasn’t his fault that someone else had realized it. She had never really stood a chance. He deserved better than her.

She didn’t even waste time putting on her helmet before speeding off on her motorcycle. 

Clementine knew she was dramatic and just downright childish, but she couldn’t explain it. She didn’t want to explain it. All she wanted to do was pretend it never happened. 

As she drove, she could feel the cold hands of her past gripping at her shoulders. His condescending voice whispering in her ear. 

‘He’s leaving you Clementine. He’s just like everyone else. He found someone better, someone nicer.’ the voice tells her, the ghost of hand running down her arm, and it’s hard to resist the urge to shake it off, to twist her arm away from his grip. 

‘I’ll never leave you Clementine, you have my word.’ 

She can feel the cold grip around her neck as she hastily pulls into her driveway. Leaving the bike on its side, engine off but the key in the ignition as she rushes inside. Ripping off the loose jacket she had worn for the day. 

‘They never cared about you like I do.’

The voice isn’t just walking about Gabe now, and it makes her sick. He’s wrong. They loved her. 

‘I love you Clementine.’

The voice tells her, running his red stained fingers through her 8 year old self’s mop of hair as he leads her through the halls of a hotel. 

Clementine doesn’t realize she’s fallen until Lee is picking her up. 

“Clementine! What’s wrong?” His voice is a far echo for a good second, and it takes her a few seconds to come back to reality. She’s in her living room being held by Lee, who is resting her on the couch. “Fuck Clem, again? I though these stopped when you were eleven.” she hears his words, but they don’t register. 

What does register is a sudden shooting pain in her ankle. 

Gasping, Clementine lurches into a sitting position to hold her ankle in an effort to try and dull the pain. 

“Hey hey hey, calm down it’s okay, I think you just twisted it. You’re fine.” Lee shushes, slowly pushing her to lay back down. 

She cringes as she rests her head on the arm of the couch. 

“What happened?” She finally asks as Lee brushes her hair out of her face, shaking his head slightly. 

“I don’t know. I came downstairs after I heard your bike and the door open, and found you on the floor having a panic attack.” he explains, and Clementine squeezes her eyes shut. 

She can’t remember the last time this happened to her. And because Gabe got a girlfriend? What kind of bullshit was this? He wasn’t forgetting her, he was living his own life. Having fun. Living freely. Being loved. Something Clementine might never know. 

“Lee?” She asks softly, her tight when she speaks. 

“Yes, sweetpea?” 

“I miss my parents.” she finally says for the first time in years. Hands clutching Lee’s as he tries to console the broken teen.


	7. Chapter 7

“Bye Claire! Thanks for dropping me off.” Gabe smiles at his girlfriend as he gets out of the car, watching her wave. 

“Of course! Call me when you’re done so I can pick you up.” Claire leans back in her seat, something flashing in her eyes before her expression turns serious, “And I think we should talk--- nothing bad! Just, we should talk about some stuff when you’re done.” Claire frowns for a second before replacing it with a sympathetic smile. “Also, tell Clementine I hope her ankle feels better soon.” she finishes and Gabe nods, leaning into the car again to give her a quick kiss. 

Before their lips could meet, a cough interrupts them.

Waiting in the doorway, Clementine watches the couple impatiently. Her arms crossed and eyebrows low as she tries to not look as upset as she feels. 

“Gabe, Lee has been waiting for you for ten minutes, hurry up.” Is all she says before limping back inside. 

Sighing, Gabe sends a sorry smile to Claire, “I’ll call you when I’m done.” he says before closing the door, adjusting the bag on his shoulder as he headed into the gym where the father/daughter duo was waiting for him. 

Clementine kept to her own corner with a punching bag while Lee waited for Gabe on the mat. Gabe was already in his workout clothes, so he just had to put the pads on and step onto the mat. 

Lee starts throwing punches at Gabe while Clementine beats up a defenseless punching bag. 

“What took you so long to get here?” Lee asks, finally breaking the silence.

Gabe struggles to answer for a moment before shrugging. “My dad took away my car--” he blocks a hit, “so I’ve been relying on friends for rides. Claire was a little late because she was having lunch with friends.” he explains, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Clementine throw a noticeably harder punch into the bag. 

Lee nods, “I get that. Clementine can’t ride her bike anymore with her ankle the way it is, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t try,” Lee jokes. “This morning I caught her trying to ride off on it, practically had to pull her off of it,” a smirk forms on Lee’s lips as he looks over to his daughter, who sends him a harsh glare from her corner. 

Making the mistake of looking over to the aforementioned girl, Gabe misses a block, and Lee just barely avoids slamming his fist into Gabe’s shoulder. 

“Shit, sorry--- uh, what did happen to your ankle, Clem?” Gabe questions, subconsciously rubbing the shoulder Lee almost hit. 

Rolling her eyes, Clementine turns to glare at the boy, but finds the cold expression instantly melting away as she looks at him. 

“Maybe if you paid attention, you would know.” Clementine mumbles before turning away, rubbing her knuckles as she returns her glare to the punching bag. 

Lee raises an eyebrow at her before looking back at Gabe, “She was distracted and lost her footing while going up the stairs, it’s just a sprain though.” Lee explained, crossing his arms slightly. “She should be fine in a week or two, just shouldn't be moving around as much as I've been letting her.” Lee frowns before switching gloves with Gabe.

“Oh, okay.” Gabe nods. He isn’t fully convinced by the answer, but he doesn't press further. 

It’s quiet for the next few minutes, the only sound in the gym is Clementines fist against the punching bag, and Gabe's fists against the pads on Lees hands. After about thirty minutes, Lee steps back, sliding off the pads and tossing them to the bench. 

“Are you two hungry?” Lee asks, rubbing his hands off onto his shorts as Gabe takes off his gloves.

Gabe shrugs, glancing over towards Clementine, who was rubbing her knuckles. 

“I could eat something. Clem?” 

The girl glances over for a few seconds before replying with a shrug.

Lee frowns at that before sighing and nodding. “Alright, I’ll go grab something cheap. Clem, why don’t you take a seat, just while I’m gone?” The request goes ignored by the girl, who limps over to get a drink from her water bottle. Lee turns to look at Gabe, lowering his voice. “Just make sure she doesn't put too much pressure on her foot at the very least.” the adult asks. Gabe nods and Lee grabs his wallet and heads out, leaving the two teens alone together.

Understanding that Clementine is in a bad mood, Gabe doesn't bother her for a minute, sitting down on the bench to get a drink as well, checking his phone to find a text from Claire. As he types out a quick reply, a cry of pain jerks him out of his thoughts.

Clem hisses in pain, falling onto the floor, hands grabbing her ankle. Gabe didn't know what had happened, but he was at her side instantly. 

“Here Clem, you should sit down.” Gabe tells her. He positions a hand behind her back and holds the other out to help her up, but instead she shoves him away.

“Fuck off, I can do this myself.” Through gritted teeth, Clem painfully stands up, shoving Gabe away for a second time as she starts to limp away from him, but not in the direction of a bench. 

Brushing off the harshness since she's clearly in pain, Gabe tries to help again, “Seriously Clem, you need to sit. Your ankle is just going to get worse.” He frowns, hand ghosting over her arm to help her, but he's just shoved away. 

“Stay the fuck away, I don't want your fucking help!” Clementine narrows her eyes into a glare as she looks back at him, hand held up to keep him at a distance.

Now it’s Gabe’s turn to be pissed. “What the hell is your problem? I’m just trying to help!” Gabe throws his hands up in frustration, taking a few steps back from the aggressive girl.

“And I don't fucking want your help.” Clementine repeats, “Now can you just fuck off and leave me alone?” The hand keeping him away is lowered, and Gabe can feel anger starting to boil in his stomach.

“Are you fucking serious? Why are you acting like such an asshole?” Gabe balls his hands into fists at his sides as Clementine whips around to face him.

“Oh? I’m the asshole here?” She asks with a scoff, the hard glare never dropping as her hands also turn into fists. “At least I don’t blow off friends just because I got a boyfriend.” she spits out, taking Gabe by surprise.

“This is all because of Claire? You’re upset because I’m hanging out with her now?” he asks, admittedly confused.

Clementine rolls her eyes, “I have a right to be mad, Gabe. You’ve literally been ignoring my texts, ignoring me at lunch, and spending every second of your time with her.” Clementine’s knuckles start to turn white from how hard she's clenching her fists.

“Seriously, Clementine? She's my girlfriend, of course I’m going to hang out with her.” Gabe shakes his head in disbelief.

“But you don’t make any time for me? Gabe, you’re my only friend.” Clementine has to look away as her throat gets tight. 

Gabe thinks he sees her eyes start to gloss over, and deep down he knows he should comfort her, assure her that her friendship matters to him, but in the heat of the moment he can’t bring himself to care.

Gabe turns to scoff and roll his eyes. “Then why have you been giving me the cold shoulder ever since you got back from your trip, huh? See, this is exactly why I’m your only friend, because you shut everyone out.” He takes a step forward, watching a hurt look cross her features before she's back to glaring.

“Gabe---” Clem starts to defend herself but Gabe is taking another step forward, unable to quell his anger. 

“Do you even want to fit in? If you actually wanted a normal life you’d make more of a fucking effort. You’d actually talk to people.” Gabe shakes his head. Taking a few steps back, deciding he was done talking before he said anything else he’d regret.

But Clementine wasn't about to let him have the last word. “It was a personal family issue Gabe,” her voice was low and threatening, “You wouldn't have understood even if I tried to tell you.” She purses her lips together.

Immediately, Gabe whips around to face her, shaking his head, “Don't you fucking dare, Clementine. Do you really think I wouldn’t understand? After everything I told you about my own fucked up family?!” He doesn't care that he's on the verge of shouting in her face now. Her bottom lip trembles for a second and her eyes gloss over before she's shoving him backwards for a third time.

“At least you have a fucking family to complain about!” She's the one shouting now as tears unwillingly spill from her eyes.

The tears just fuel the fire in Gabe. He can’t believe that she has the nerve to fucking cry right now. “What the fuck does that mean?” He shakes his head again. 

Suddenly Clementine stumbles back, eyes wide and letting more tears fall down her cheeks. “It’s- it doesn’t mean fucking anything! Nothing you need to know, just fuck off!” She hastily tries to wipe away the tears. But more keep coming.

“So you don’t fucking trust me enough to tell me about your life? After I’ve told you every single last detail about mine. Clementine, I’ve trusted you with everything! Does that mean nothing to you?” Gabe pauses his voice breaking slightly. Clementine continues to cry, the angry defensive side of her seems to have vanished and replaced with a sad and scared one. She was trying to make him seem like the bad guy in this, wasn't she?

“Well I guess we aren't actually friends. Because friends trust each other.” Gabe finishes. Not looking back as he walks out, already texting Claire to pick him up as he leaves Clementine crying alone in the gym.

 

Gabe tells Claire to meet him at the park, and immediately heads right there. His face is burning as he walks. He should have known he meant nothing to her. He shouldn't have let her fool him into thinking she cared. Tears start to fill his own eyes, and Gabe almost punches himself. So now he's fucking crying? He aggressively wipes them away, refusing to cry in public. 

As he waits, the guilt of going off on Clementine starts to set in. The image of her hurt face ingraining itself into his mind. But he tries to force it away. She was the one who started it. She was the one who didn't trust him. He wasn't the bad guy. Was he?

Thankfully, Gabe doesn't have to dwell on that thought for long. Claire pulls up soon enough, and Gabe has to push his feelings down.

Forcing a smile, he gets into her car, the smile growing more real as she kisses his cheek. Her hand rests on the far cheek, coaxing him to look at her, and she can immediately tell that something is bothering him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” she asks softly, thumb rubbing the skin that was still slightly wet from his tears.

Taking a breath, Gabe goes to explain, but stops himself. Remembering his mistake of trusting Clementine with everything. So instead he shakes his head. “I’m fine, just got punched a little too hard.” he laughs it off, taking her hand from his cheek to press a kiss to her knuckles.

Thankfully, Claire seems to accept that. They share a smile before Claire drives Gabe home.

The tone in the car is different. There's some sort of tension that Gabe doesn't understand, but he can tell that Claire is anxious about something. Her grip on the steering wheel was tight and she refused to even glance at him. Gabe doesn't bring it up, but he was definitely on edge.

Finally, they're in Gabes driveway. Nobody's home right now, which Gabe silently thanks god for. He goes to open the door and step out, but Claire's hand on his shoulder stops him. 

“Hey, uh, I think we should have that talk now.” She says, meeting his eyes with a semi scared look.

Gabe freezes before slowly nodding. “Oh, uh yeah, sure, go ahead.” he nods, dropping his hand from the door handle. Turning his body more to face her.

Watching closely, Gabe notices how anxious Claire is for this. Her hands are fidgeting and her breathing is shaky. A few silent moments pass before she's starting. 

“Gabe, you know I really- really like you, right?” She pauses and Gabe cautiously nods, “And I really want this relationship to work, so I need to be honest with you. Which I haven't always been,” She takes a deep breath and Gabe feels nauseous.

“I only asked you out for a dare. I lost a bet and had to ask some random guy out, and that guy was you. I was only supposed to go on one date with you, but after the third, I really started to like you. A lot. I’m sorry I didn't tell you until now--” She starts to apologize, but Gabe has heard enough. 

The anger from earlier seeping through as he stares at her. 

“Gabe, please, say something-”

“Don’t talk to me ever again.” Gabes hands are back into fists before he's getting out of the car. Ignoring her cries of his name as he slams the car door shut and heads inside.

Once in his own room, tears start to fall. He throws things. He cries. He punches the wall. Drew ditched him. His dad was ignoring him. Javi and Kate were having an affair. Clementine never really cared about him. And Claire had been lying to him.

Gabe didn't understand why everything was against him. It was too much. Even though it wasn’t completely his fault, he found himself overflowing with self loathing. 

He lost his temper with Clementine. He made her cry. And then he just left her there, crying and all alone. If he had the strength, he would have gone back and apologized, but he knew he fucked it up. And that just made him cry more.

After an hour or two, it starts storming. The thunder and harsh rain makes Gabe feel worse as he sits on his bed, trying to block out the aggressive sounds with his hands.

He almost doesn't hear the knock on the front door through the rain. But he pushes himself up and goes to open it, hoping his face isn't still red, even though he hasn't really stopped crying yet.

Gabe expected to see Claire or Javi at the door, not a soaking wet, and still sniffling Clementine.

“You’re-- you’re right. You were so right. I need to learn how to trust.” She's interrupted by a hiccuped breath,”It's just-- it's hard. But I want to learn.” She doesn't bother to wipe away her tears since they’re mixing with the rain. “I do trust you, Gabe. Can I tell you about my past?”


	8. Chapter 8

There’s a suffocating silence as the two stare each other down. The only sound is the rain on the pavement, and the slight sniffling coming from Clementine as she tries to hold back her tears.

Shortly after Gabe had left, Lee got back. His confusion was short lived, quickly replaced by fury. He had demanded to know where Gabe lived, and even went as far as trying to call Kenny. But Clementine was quick to stop him. None of this was Gabe’s fault. She knew that.

It took some convincing, but Lee eventually calmed down and drove Clementine home. But she couldn’t sit still.

If she had learned anything about Gabe over the last few months, she knew that he was blaming himself for the fight. And that wasn’t okay with her.

Clementine waited until she heard the shower start up before she stole her keys and got back on her motorcycle.

The rain pounded against the visor of her helmet, making it hard for her to see as she sped down the streets. Rain soaked her clothes down to her skin, and Clementine felt that the weather matched her emotions. At some point, tears had begun to spill again.

You’ve ruined it Clementine. He’s done with you. They’re all done with you.

The voice was back, making Clementine’s stomach twist and she almost swerved into oncoming traffic.

He hates you Clementine. Just like your parents did. If they loved you, they wouldn’t have left you.

Trying to ignore the voice, Clementine revved her engine. Flying down the street Gabe lived on, not taking a moment to think about the people who might complain about the noise.

She stumbled off her bike as thunder crashed in the distance. Helmet dropped somewhere in the grass as she limped up to the door, anxiously knocking before she could even really process what she was doing.

Gabe looked shocked to see her, and Clementine was taken aback by his equally tearstained face.

Thunder crashing in the distance seems to jump Gabe into action. He nodded numbly, opening the door wider so she could enter. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, cringing at the feeling of the wet material pressing against her skin.

“Uh, let’s go into my room. My dad should be home soon.” Gabe says quietly, raising his hand to gesture towards the hall leading to his room. “You can borrow some of Kate’s clothes if you want, so you don’t catch a cold.” Gabe offers as they walk down the aforementioned hallway. 

Clementine stares blankly at him for a moment, his politeness only increasing her feeling of guilt.

“Oh, um sure.” Clementine mumbles. She feels awkward about wearing his step-mother’s clothes, but would much rather get out of her own for a bit.

At her confirmation, Gabe nods. “Wait here.” he says before disappearing into what Clem can only assume is his parent’s room.

Standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall, Clementine turns to look at some pictures on the wall. A happy family photo quickly catches her attention. She can instantly pick out Gabe, and she’s overcome by a wave of sorrow as she looks at the miniature version of him. His expression in the photo is bright and carefree, so different from the one she’s become accustomed to, always with a hint of sadness in his eyes--- one that comes from loss. Her gaze falls upon a little girl in the photo being held by Gabe’s father. Clementine can only assume is Gabe’s little sister, who was killed when she was ten.

The memory of Gabe telling her and Lee the story is another jab to her heart as she looks away. She doesn’t have long to dwell on the building guilt as Gabe appears back into the hallway, holding a t-shirt and pajama pants.

“Kate’s a little bit taller than you, so you’ll probably have to roll the pants up.” Gabe explains, handing her the clothes before nodding his head towards the slightly ajar door next to them. “You can change in the bathroom, I’ll be in my room.” Gabe then takes a few steps backwards.

She gives him a small nod, then turns to walk into the bathroom. Switching on the light and closing the door behind her. 

The new clothes are soft and warm, and like Gabe had mentioned, she had to roll the pants up so she wouldn’t trip over the hem.

Gathering her wet clothes, Clementine walks towards Gabe’s room, pausing to knock before entering.

Gabe is sitting on his bed, fidgeting with a roll of ace bandages. He looks up as Clementine walks in. 

“Hey, I found some bandages. For your ankle I mean, since yours are probably wet from the rain.” Gabe explains awkwardly, standing up and holding the roll out to the girl, who just stares at him for a few seconds, slowly accepting the roll.

Her hand falls back to her side, squeezing the fabric in her hand as she drops her gaze to the floor. 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” She asks, her voice quiet and barely audible. She had been so cruel to him, and yet here he was, willingly inviting her into his home and lending her clothes and bandages. Worrying about her. It made her head hurt.

She looks back up as Gabe takes a breath. He doesn't meet her eyes as she scans his face, but regret washes over his features as he looks up. 

“I was a huge fucking asshole Clem,” Gabe starts, making Clementine freeze up. Instantly starting to feel ill with guilt as Gabe rubs his face, which still had red spots from when he was crying. “I just snapped, and said so much shit I didn’t mean I’m so sorr---”

“Gabe stop,” Clementine cuts him off, unintentionally crushing the roll of bandages in her hand. “None of it was your fault,” She sees the way he gets ready to deny that statement and quickly continues, “I’m the one who needs to apologize.” She takes a shaky breath, glancing to the side as her jaw starts to tense from nerves. “I was scared. Scared that you were going to just,” she looks around the room, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly, “forget about me?” 

A look at Gabe reveals his confused expression. Clem quickly looks away again. “Everyone has always just left me, so I thought just shutting you out completely would make the inevitable easier for me to handle,” a tear slides off her cheek, “but instead I just--- fucked everything up.”

The tears frustrated her. She didn't want Gabe to think she was crying to make him feel bad, but once they start falling it’s hard to get them to stop..

Clem can’t look at Gabes face, but watches his feet come closer to her. His arms wrap around her shoulder, pulling her tight against him. Her own arms are trapped between their bodies as she pressed her cheek against his chest. “It’s fine-- you’re fine Clem, honestly,” Gabe whispers softly, resting his chin on her head. “We both said a shit ton of things we didn’t mean.” he says, the memory of his own words stinging him in the chest.

“I-- I was jealous of you and Claire.” Clementine confesses, her eyes closed as she listens to Gabes heartbeat in an effort to calm herself down for a second. “I was jealous that you could have something so, so normal?” She shakes her head softly, cringing at how she sounded. “It’s stupid, I know.” she sighs, bringing a hand up to wipe away the tears that were gathering on her chin.

Gabe doesn't respond for a few seconds, which worries her, but he does tighten his arms around her. “It was all a dare.” he mumbles, voice muffled by her hair as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. 

Frowning, Clem opens her eyes again. She cant see his face, so she just stares at his arm. 

“What?” she asks, not understanding what he meant.

Gabe presses his cheek to the top of her head, taking a moment to reply. “Claire and I were a dare apparently. She lost a bet or something and had to ask me out, so it wasn’t real,” he finishes, staring at his wall with a sigh.

“God, that so fucked up.” Clementine scoffs, shaking her head before wrapping her arms around his waist to hug him back. “I’m sorry Gabe, you deserve better.” 

She feels him shrug slightly, “I mean, I didn't even like her at first. I only said yes because I didn’t want to die alone, and I thought she might be the only person to ever like me.” he explains. 

Clem pulls back from the hug to give him a small smile.

“You’re not going to die alone.” She says, adding a roll of her eyes as he raises a brow at her.

“Can you see the future, Clem?” he asks, laughing slightly as he moves his hands to her shoulders.

Clem gives an amused look, lifting her hand to punch his shoulder. “No, but I can tell how great of a person you are, and any girl would be dumb to not want to spend their life with you.” She tells him confidently. She bites her tongue from saying something she would regret, but Gabe seems happy with her words.

“The same goes for you, Clem.” he says gently. It’s silent for a few seconds before Clem speaks up.

“Can we sit down? My ankle is really starting to kill me.” She asks, laughing a bit as she gestures down toward her ankle.

A confused look crosses his face for a few seconds before his eyes are widen. “Oh! Yeah. Yeah, sorry.” Gabe nods, backing up to help her limp over to his bed. Once she's seated, he sits down on the desk chair next to the bed.

Its silent for a few moments as Clementine unwraps the soaked bandages on her ankle, resting them on her lap before taking the roll Gabe had given her. Beginning to rewrap the injury, she glances towards Gabe, who seemed lost in thought. Looking back at her hands, Clementine takes a deep breath. “Lee’s not my real dad,” She confesses.

That snaps Gabe out of his thoughts. He looks back at her with a frown. “Uh, what?” 

“He’s not my dad. Or even related to me at all. He was my babysitters college professor when I was eight.” She finishes wrapping her foot. Resting her arms on her knees and her chin on her arms, staring at the wall across from her. 

Gabe is silent, letting her talk. “My parents went on vacation, and never came back. I was left with my babysitter, and they were only supposed to be gone for a week. Sandra couldn’t get ahold of them, so she just took me to school with her. Lee took me off her hands, and went to social services, but I refused to leave him.” A small smile crosses her face.

“I threw the biggest fit whenever they tried to seperate us. Crying, screaming, punching. I’m still surprised Lee agreed to take me in after watching that,” she laughs and shakes her head a little. “But he did. I obviously got attached to him fast, but I never stopped asking about my parents.” The smile fades at that, her eyes falling shut for a second. “I had this walkie-talkie that I would use to have pretend talks with my parents when I was sad or scared. It made me feel better, even though I knew it wasn't real.” a sigh falls from her lips as she opens her eyes.

“A couple days, like five or six days after my birthday, a man showed up at Lee’s house. He claimed to know my parents, and said that they told him to come get me.” She shakes her head and scoffs at herself, “Being the dumb kid I was, I believed him. If I could’ve, I would have ran out and jumped into his car right then and there, but Lee was clearly smarter than me. He didn’t trust the guy and just shut the door in his face.” her gaze fell to the floor.

Slowly, Gabe made his way to sit next to her on the bed, hand resting softly on her shoulder. “I was upset that Lee wouldn’t let me go, so I locked myself in my room. Sometime around midnight, the stranger was back and outside my window. He told me where my parents were, and that he was going to take me there if I wanted to. I agreed and told him I was going to change. When he couldn’t see me, I wrote Lee a note, telling him I was going to find my parents with the man. And then left.” She shrugged, forehead falling onto her knees.

“It didn’t take me long to realize something wasn’t right. He began to tell me that he wouldn’t leave me like they did, told me that he loved me? It was creepy,” She shakes her head slowly. “When he mentioned wanting to start a family with me is when I really started to panic. He took me to this hotel in Savannah where my parents usually stayed, but I refused to go in. Kicked and punched and even screamed.”

“I didn't stop until he picked me up and opened his trunk. There were three black tarps. He opened one and showed me his dead wife, but didn’t just show me, he grabbed her chin and turned her head to look at me. He told me if I wasn't good, the same would happen to me.” Clementine brought a hand up to rubs her eyes.

“He murdered his family after a fight with his wife over the way he was raising his kids. He was arrested for a couple months, broke out during some prison riot or something.” she gave a brief explanation.

“Eventually he got me into the building. Then he locked me in the bathroom, said he was punishing me for trying to fight him. Apologized profusely when he shoved me in, though he clearly didn’t mean it.” Suddenly she pauses. Eyes shut tight as her stomach turns in knots at the memory.

She doesn't speak for a few moments, moving to grip at her knees. The hand on her shoulder suddenly isn't a comforting hold from her friend, instead it's cold and tight. Squeezing so tight it bruises her skin as he shoves her into the dark bathroom. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as she begs to see her parents. Begs for him to let her go home. But he leaves her in the dark. 

Clementine sits with her back to the cabinets for a while. Sobbing, afraid, but not totally alone. Upon further inspection, she realizes that the smell burning her nose is coming from the bathtub to her left. Through the darkness, the little girl makes out the outline of a tarp. Fear freezes her in place. Her growing curiosity pushes her to look and see what was under there. Maybe it was just a bunch of trash, this guy was weird after all, but after seeing what was in the mans backseat, she knows better than to look.

Clementine doesn't know how long she sits in the dark, trying to open the door, begging to be let out. The man never answers her. He occasionally tells her to be quiet, but that's the only contact he gives her. 

At some point, she hears heavy footsteps walking around, which definitely did not belong to the man. She hears voices talking, and she cant handle being in the dark anymore.

Realizing the door can open enough for her to slip her hand through the crack, she tugs off the rope that had been keeping her captive. Poking her head through the crack, she almost cries at the sight of Lee. She wants to run into his arms, but knows better. Doing the next best thing, she follows his eyes to a glass bottle on the desk.

Quietly, Clementine took the glass bottle and snuck up behind him. Striking him on the back of the head before backing up as Lee threw himself forward to attack.

“They fought for a minute before Lee got him up against a wall, he would have choked him to death if the police hadn’t arrived,” Clementines hands are shaking now. “They arrested him and me and Lee went home. A week later Lee sat me down and told me that they found my parents. They were... in the tub.” she shrugs, giving no further explanation to it.

“To be safe, we moved around for a few years before settling in North Carolina for a few months. But right as we got comfortable he got out again. Lee saw him outside our house one day and chased him off, and we moved the next day. When I was thirteen he had been incarcerated and taken back to Georgia, so we just stayed here, and you know what happens from there.” Clementine finishes with a small humorless laugh.

There was comfort in telling her story, the weight of the past she keeps to herself is lifted from her shoulders for a few blissful moments as Gabe wraps his arms around her shoulders. Pulling her closer before she reciprocates the hug. Arms around his waist and head in his shoulder, hiding a few tears that fall as she gets close.

“Thank you for trusting me.” Gabe says softly, eyes closing as he rests his head atop hers.

“Thanks for being here for me.” She replies, smiling softly and holding tight.


	9. Chapter 9

From everything Gabe knew about Clementine beforehand, he obviously expected her to have had a considerably harder life. But not the life she had explained to him. She believes that she has some sort of curse following her, and Gabe silently agrees. 

Too much has happened to her at her age. Growing up was hard for anyone, puberty and hormones and all that, but watching so many people around you get hurt or die, it weighs a person down over time. Looking at her now, sitting at the edge of his bed, hands gripping his covers to keep them from shaking, he suddenly sees her in a new light. 

She looks beautiful in it. 

Clementine wasn’t one to talk about anything from her past. It’s bad enough that she has to carry the burden of it all, but giving that burden to someone else? She couldn’t do that. 

But there’s something about Gabe that just makes her /want/ to talk. To be listened to. So that’s what she did. 

Clementine told him about Luke, how she tried to pull him up from under the ice, but with his broken ankle and her freezing hands it was unsuccessful. She told him about standing in Rebecca’s hospital room, holding the woman’s baby while the fighting behind her turned to white noise as she watched the heart monitor drop to a flat line. 

By the end, it hurt to breath. She was clutching at Gabriel’s bed covers to keep herself from digging her nails into the palms of her hands. 

Clem has remind herself that he’s still sitting there. She wasn’t alone going through this anymore. And most importantly, he /cared/ about her. He wanting to listen to her and comfort her. He wanted to help her. 

It’s silent for a few moments, Clementines eyes are shut while Gabe’s gaze is focused on her hand. 

Slowly, he rests his hand on top of hers. Squeezing gently, coaxing her to loose the grip on the fabric, which she does. 

Clementine turns her hand around in his grip, and Gabe intertwines their fingers. 

Neither speaks as Clem scoots closer, resting her head on his shoulder as her own start to shake with silent tears. 

They roll down her cheeks, landing and soaking into the material of his shirt. 

It’s silent until they hear the front door open and close. An angry voice cuts through, cursing the rain as the sound of shoes hitting the floor reaches their ears. 

“I guess dads home,” Gabe sighs, frowning as the weight of Clem’s head on his shoulder leave. 

He turns to watch her wipe her eyes with the hem of Kate’s t-shirt, trying to get rid of the proof that she was crying even though her puffy eyes and the red splotches on her cheeks give it away. 

“I should probably get heading home, don’t wanna overstay my welcome,” she says, starting to get up before Gabe’s squeezing her hand to keep her in place. 

“No— you should stay. It’s storming really bad, you shouldn’t ride in that rain,” he says, glancing off to the side as he talks. He just really doesn’t want her to leave. Not yet 

A blush crosses clementines cheeks, but she nods and sits back down. A small, barely even there smile on her lips. 

“You can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the ground,” Gabe stands up, slowly letting go of her hand. As if he can tell she’s going to refuse, he pulls out a small second mattress from under his bed. Winking at her semi surprised expression — making her laugh.

Gabe stands up again, grabbing one pillow from his bed and a blanket from his closet. Clementine watching him with the same barely there smile on her lips. But the appreciation and adoration is clear in her eyes. 

In no time, Gabe’s makeshift bed is set up. 

“See? Just as good as the real thing,” he says, and clementine rolls her eyes. 

“Alright, but don’t complain when you wake up with a sore back,” Clementine retorts, moving to scoot under the covers of his bed. It’s a bit awkward, but she supposes it’s better than driving home in the rain. 

From her seat on his bed, Clementine watched Gabe turn off the light. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Clem listens to Gabe stumble over a few mystery items before making it to the small matters on the ground. 

After finding the pillow and blanket, gabe laid down and got comfortable. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he notices a hand reaching over the edge of his bed. 

Clementine leans over, hand outstretched and looking for his. Before long, she feels his taking her in a gentle hold. A squeeze from his hand brings a tear sliding down the side of Clementines face. 

Clementine squeezes Gabe’s hand back, trying to hold back any sounds of tears. 

“Thank you Gabe, for everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I felt rlly bad about not like actually finishing this, so I decided to write this short chapter as an actual ending to this? Hopefully one day I’ll find the actual inspiration to end this the way I planned, but for now this is the end! Sorry!!


End file.
